City Council Meeting – 12/16/2009

See video recap of the council meeting and live Hoboken411 chat after the jump!

The Last Hoboken Council Meeting of 2009!

Swing back at 7pm tonight for the Live Video presentation of the Hoboken City Council Meeting, as well as Live Chat!

Tonight will feature board appointment discussions (like the Hoboken Housing Authority), gripes about the budget, money and the usual heaping pile of political posturing. If you want to prepare yourself for the games, here is the necessary reading material:

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For those of you who asked who is Irene Smith and how does she feel about development, here I am to answer that question. First thanks for being kind and not taking shots at me. To the commenters that complimented me on my appearance, um thanks, it was not really what I was going for but, hey, I’ll take it! Compliments are always nice 🙂 LOL. Now to answer the question, I have worked in development for about 8 years. Most recently in Manhattan, now I no longer work for developers, but in preservation of churches and historic buildings in NJ. However, I have grown up in Hoboken, seen it change, for the good, and in some ways for the bad. I don’t believe all development is evil, however I feel that each and every development that comes into this city, should contribute something back to the community in some way. In addition, every project, should be congruent and proportionate with respect to the environment in which it exists. I believe that these principles have not consistently been met in Hoboken, and I would have liked to have tried my hand at advocating them. I wasn’t appointed, and I was well aware that the appointments were made in Council member’s heads way before the “meet and greet”. I was however encouraged by some members of the council to take their time to get to know all of the people that had applied. I got to know some of the other… Read more »

Thanks Irene and I would agree the process is kind of funny. I though that Mr Russo comment was funny at the 4 th time with the cards. Down the stretch they come. It was clear the names were known by the majority and Ms Marsh was the leader in case the others didn’t get the message when she stated who she was going to support. In response to hbkn who said: For those of you who asked who is Irene Smith and how does she feel about development, here I am to answer that question. First thanks for being kind and not taking shots at me. To the commenters that complimented me on my appearance, um thanks, it was not really what I was going for but, hey, I’ll take it! Compliments are always nice 🙂 LOL. Now to answer the question, I have worked in development for about 8 years. Most recently in Manhattan, now I no longer work for developers, but in preservation of churches and historic buildings in NJ. However, I have grown up in Hoboken, seen it change, for the good, and in some ways for the bad. I don’t believe all development is evil, however I feel that each and every development that comes into this city, should contribute something back to the community in some way. In addition, every project, should be congruent and proportionate with respect to the environment in which it exists. I believe that these principles have not consistently been… Read more »

Anyone else hear Beth Mason’s rational for choosing her Zoning Board appointments? She said she didn’t want to chose people that had experience working as lawyers, engineers, or planners. Instead, she wanted lay people.

I find that ironic coming from the woman who constantly touted her years of experience running a “Fortune 500 Company.” Next time I’m voting for the Mayor/Councilperson candidate who is a layperson that can make willy nilly feel-good decisions but doesn’t have any actual experience in the job they’re applying for.

Whiskey: Don’t remember exactly since there was some appeal and then an adjustment. I believe it was between $200-400K. It is rumored there are recent awards regarding Judy’s Director of Finance and OT being due to our CFO. I caught the Kleinman/Bhalla discourse on 411. Of course, the SWAT team issue will cost us a bundle. This should be released soon. What did we pay out to the judge (hearing officer), Prosecutor (presenter of the administrative charges), and investigator (all attorneys)??? What other costs will arise from this SWAT fiasco?

truth how much did the Sarrano case cost??Dave the rave let those three cases happen..To put someone in her place makes me wonder did the end justify the means to reward someone..Sarrano was able and a good supervisor,since its inception..Shame on the rave.

How many outstanding legal actions are pending or recently have been settled or a decision rendered? How many are being appealed by the city? The Bhalla/Kleinman discourse is interesting. Some the the past cases, were the settlement/awards in the Lenz, Serrano and DeStefano cases. These are a matter of past record. What the story now???

You have been around awhile and may fell the Mr Bhalla is a nice, quiet member. The fact is he is just getting even with Mr Kleimann. You may recall Mr Bhalla contract as attorney for city rent control board had reached it’s contractual limit. Mr Kleimann as the person responsible for the legal line of the budget stopped future payments. So I saw last night back and forward by Mr Bhalla as uncalled for and unprofessional to his on profession. If i was Mr Kleimann I would you just stated, Councilman I am no loner the city attorney and am only here to help Mr Katz till January 15th.

In response to truth1 who said:
How many outstanding legal actions are pending or recently have been settled or a decision rendered? How many are being appealed by the city? The Bhalla/Kleinman discourse is interesting. Some the the past cases, were the settlement/awards in the Lenz, Serrano and DeStefano cases. These are a matter of past record. What the story now???

My main interest is the pending lawsuits and appeals to decisions already received (some most recently). As for Ravi and Steve, they had discussed the subject of their council metting discourse previously. Ravi appeared to be overly tough on Steve, but Steve has dragged his feet on previous requests. For example, did he ever supply the council with the ballpark costs (with projections) of the SWAT team fiasco hearings that was requested by Nino Giacci, then council president? Did he ever sent the confidential memo regarding the hearings themselves as also requested at the time. Again, let’s go forward and pay attention to what’s coming down the pipe…it’s sure to be expensive!

In response to upyurs who said:
You have been around awhile and may fell the Mr Bhalla is a nice, quiet member. The fact is he is just getting even with Mr Kleimann. You may recall Mr Bhalla contract as attorney for city rent control board had reached it’s contractual limit. Mr Kleimann as the person responsible for the legal line of the budget stopped future payments. So I saw last night back and forward by Mr Bhalla as uncalled for and unprofessional to his on profession. If i was Mr Kleimann I would you just stated, Councilman I am no loner the city attorney and am only here to help Mr Katz till January 15th.

Once again you miss the point. It wasn’t the place to go after Mr Kleimann, just like council members shown go after each other. We don’t know what discussions they each had prior to meeting, or what discussions Mr Kleimann had with other council members about any law suits. I will tell you this Mr Roberts created many law suits by his in decisions and we will pay for them. Yes , it will cost us dearly

In response to truth1 who said:
My main interest is the pending lawsuits and appeals to decisions already received (some most recently). As for Ravi and Steve, they had discussed the subject of their council metting discourse previously. Ravi appeared to be overly tough on Steve, but Steve has dragged his feet on previous requests. For example, did he ever supply the council with the ballpark costs (with projections) of the SWAT team fiasco hearings that was requested by Nino Giacci, then council president? Did he ever sent the confidential memo regarding the hearings themselves as also requested at the time. Again, let’s go forward and pay attention to what’s coming down the pipe…it’s sure to be expensive!

Yes, and Steve Kleinman was hired by Dave Roberts and did his bidding…Upon his departure, we might find out more about his watch. I agree that Ravi was hard on him, but they are both attorneys and should be used to the heat of battle. The real point is the cost of legal issues and the disposition of the cases.

In response to upyurs who said:
Once again you miss the point. It wasn’t the place to go after Mr Kleimann, just like council members shown go after each other. We don’t know what discussions they each had prior to meeting, or what discussions Mr Kleimann had with other council members about any law suits. I will tell you this Mr Roberts created many law suits by his in decisions and we will pay for them. Yes , it will cost us dearly